Seeing Red
by Moshi 47
Summary: When Maka's long lost twin surprises her by Turing up at the DWMA, she send souls life into mayhem, but will he risk his own life to save his miester?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own soul eater**

***a sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body***

Maka's POV

The sun laughs freakishly, already fighting of the sleep and heat early in the morning. As I make my way up the 1000 stairs in front of the Shibusen with Soul, I prepare my muddled thoughts for another gruelling day at school. As soon as we reach the top, I spot a girl who looks just like me, talking to her group of new friends. We walk towards the entrance, past the girl, who seems to be wearing pigtails in her sandy blonde hair. Soul smirks and whispers to me "The resemblance in uncanny, isn't it?" "Too uncanny" I reply. I have a bad feeling about this girl, I'm picking up a soul that startles me, gives me goosebumps. A wavelength greater than any other I've ever seen.

Back in the classroom of crescent moon, Tsubaki, Black*Star, Liz, Patty, Kid, Soul and I wait patiently until today's relief teacher arrives. Dr Stein enters the room, sitting backwards on his office chair, flying in through the door, and then suddenly, the wheels catch between the polished floor tiles. He goes flying, and ends up face planting the floor with a thud. "Good morning class." He hollers, "today we are going to..." He looks up suspiciously, waiting for the groaning comments from other students, but he notices the girl, who is sitting in the front row. "My, we must have a new student. What's your name?" "Akane" she replies sweetly. "Well today, Akane, we will be dissecting the most endangered bird, the dodo!" Akane and black*star have an absolute freak attack! They yelled back at Dr Stein " you can't dissect the dodo! It's the most endangered bird in the world!" They chimed in together. " That's the fact, no one knows how it works.."

After the blow up, which got progressively worse, Black*Star and Akane were sent to Shinigami Sama. They broke rule no.103 of the Shibusen rule book; never backchat the teacher, no matter how badly you disagree.

Not a really good look for your first day.

Soul's POV

Before I go to get Maka at recess, I return to my locker and discover that the previously abandoned locker next to mine had been inhabited by Akane. As I stood up, she caught my eye. While I was staring into the deep emerald green whirlpools, I couldn't help but think how much they look like Maka's. Curiosity killed the cat. I asked her for her name, and if she was weapon or meister. "My name is Akane Albarn, and I am a weapon, a death scythe in fact. I have no current meister, but I am looking for one here in the DWMA." She replied in the sweetest voice that I heard earlier when she answered Dr Stein. I literally fell over, my befuddled thoughts took hold of me, pushing me to the ground. Akane turned and ran away, scared for her life. That was the last thing I saw before it all went black, her running at the speed of light down the corridor.

As I fell, I hit my head on the floor and knocked my self out cold. When I woke, It was night, and I was in the dispensary. I must have been dehydrated as well because I found tubes in my arm, and as I followed the tubes down my arm, I see an emotionally stricken Maka, who sits like crumpled wreck in a chair beside me. She is as pale as the moon outside the window, and her usual bubbly attitude had disappeared. As she noticed me stirring, she springs up from her seat, still gripping my hand for dear life. "Soul! Soul! Your ok! You had me so worried! How are you feeling?" She whispered soothingly. "Like shit, Maka. I'm just in so much pain..." I reply. I'm really surprised at how weak I sound, maybe it's just a reflection of how beat up I feel on the inside. Sleep depravation, a knock to the head, and something else that kills, but I just can't put a finger on it, really takes it's toll. "Oh you poor thing! Do want me to get Stein to give you some pain killer?" "Please, Maka" my thoughts are so cloudy I can't follow the conversation. "Ok, I'm going to get him." She stands, plants a kiss on my forehead and leaves. She sounds emotionally drained. I wonder how long have I been here with her by my side?

So Dr Stein comes in, "How are you feeling Soul?" He says. "Terrible." I groan. And I do feel genuinely terrible. I've never felt this bad. Ever. My whole lifetime. "Hmmm, let me see what I can do. How many fingers am I holding up?" This is hard, I'm seeing double. He holds up what looks like four but is apparently two. "Four." I reply. This makes him wear a face of concern. He shines a light in my eyes, which makes them water, and leaves the room swiftly. As he reaches the door, he turns around and yells, "I'll be back in a minute." Maka grips my hand tighter, and I spot tears running down her face. "Maka, what's wrong?" "You poor thing, when they called me out of class yesterday, and they told me that you were in the dispensary, I nearly broke down. But when they let me in to see you, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I tore this place apart, smashed everything that could be smashed, ripped the curtains down and tore them into little pieces, I lay on the floor screaming and yelling, I woke the whole ward up, but you just lay there, lifeless and still. As though you had given up on everything, given up on life. A piece of me died when I saw you, and when your heart stopped last night, so did mine. But now that your awake, just knowing that you'll be ok is enough to start making the pieces come alive again." She tells me, crying. "Maka, it's ok I'm..." I get cut off by Dr Stein's surprise appearance at the foot of my bed. "Soul, I'm sorry, but it have to put another tube in." He says, in a cold, clinical voice. Well, I can't say or do much to tell him other wise. What doctor wants, doctor gets. He's carrying a small container holding a small vile of something, a bag of fluids, a long, thin tube and a two painful looking needles, each as long as my finger, and in the other hand, my file, which is stuffed with papers. Maka's face turned white when we saw what was in the container, were both phobic of needles. I can't do anything to stop him, and if he knows it's going to help, I trust him. So I just won't watch, I'll just stare at Maka' beautiful face, but when I see her,I see a reflection of my own pain. As Dr Stein makes his way up to my bedside, Maka grips my hand, tightly, as if holding on for dear life. I don't have the energy to squeeze her hand in return, but she knows that, so she compensates by squeezing harder. He peels one needle from its sterile paper, and loads it with the clear liquid from the vile, flicking the excess off the tip. Maka strokes my hair as a single tear rolls down her cheek. "I love you, Soul." She tells me. I barley have time to reply before Dr Stein puts the needle with the tube end in my arm. I try to keep still, I know the more I move, the more it will hurt. He literally stabbed me with the needle, and an instant later, I feel the odd, even more painful sensation of a cold liquid seeping into my veins. It ends up turning warm and fuzzy as it seeps up towards my head. Maka's iron grip on my hand is like a vice. She cut my blood circulation off to my fingers. Feeling like a pincushion, I turn so I can see Dr Stein, his gloved hands fumbling with the fluids while trying to inject the bag with the liquid from the vile. His eyes drift around the array of machines trying to help me, until he looks at me, and as if reading my mind, quickly finishes what he's doing beside me, takes the container and vile to the end of my bed to do some note taking on my charts.

I'm half drifted off when I remember my previous thoughts "Dr Stein, what is it exactly that you've given me?" I ask, still half asleep and Maka still holding my hand. She hasn't moved an inch in the last hour. "Morphine, Soul, so you can rest and your body can repair its self." He replied. "Your going to feel like you want to sleep, so don't resist it." He says with a crooked smile. I turn back towards Maka, her face even paler than before. "I love you too, Maka, more than my own life. You should know that." I tell her. "I know Soul, I feel the same way, and I'd go to the end of the earth for you. I still can't believe a fall can make you end up like this. Your relying on machines to keep your heart in rhythm." She whispers back while pushing my damp hair back from my eyes. "I love you" she whispers, and plants another kiss on my forehead before she gets up to stretch. "I love you too." I manage to get out before the tendrils of morphine pull me down into the depths of sleep.

Maka's POV

I can't pull myself away from the pale, sleeping, Soul in front of me, but a super stiff back calls to be stretched. He's peaceful now, not in any pain at all, so I let go. As I walk around the room, the more it looks like a cell that he's been condemned to. I stop at the bottom of his bed, noticing a small piece of paper. I pick it up and turn it around to read it. The title reads 'MEDICAL NOTES' in bold, capital letters. What I read in the clinical notes column stopped me from breathing, and made my mind race one thousand times worse than before. Shocked me beyond oblivion. My heart is racing, my eyes continuously scanning from the few scattered words on the page to the lifeless creature in front of me, searching his soul, but only one message comes up.

"Maka, if you are reading this, I need to tell you, I love you, like no one else in the world. I want you to know, I will never leave you, ever, because cool guys don't do that. I want you to know, that I'll be fine, no matter what anyone tells you. Because cool guys don't just give up on life like that."

Please R&R

Next chapter coming soon


	2. Chapter 2

Maka's POV

This message brings a sudden lightness to my body, to know that he's still there, and a mixed feeling of worry and longing forms a knot in my stomach as I look at him, curled up in the bed, tubes coming out of his arms in every direction. An awkward sensation rushes over my body, causing me to seat myself again beside Soul. I hold his hand, and push the stray strands of hair out of his face, revealing the most beautiful person in the world, the one I love most, the one who means the world to me, and will stay that way forever. I rest my head on the bedside, and close my eyes, wishing for sleep to come, and fast too.

The past week has been the hardest week of my life. To sit by and watch the one you love most deteriorate in front of your eyes is one of the saddest things to watch. And there was nothing in the world I could do to make him feel better, there was nothing in the world I could do to save him from this state, except sit here by his side. It's still sinking in. Everything seems so surreal when I keep imagining what happened to him. No one ever really told me anything, why what or how, but I sense it has something to do with the new girl, Akane. This has never happened to anyone in DWMA history, and she's never been part of the DWMA. It just goes to show, when you are beaten down in the first place, it makes it a thousand times harder to recover from something potentially life threatening.

Soul was always a fighter, the cool guy who stood up for what is right, the one who makes a difference. It's such a shock, just even looking at him, from what he was the other week, to what he is now. A strong, fearless "cool" guy, who was not exactly in the best health at the time, but just made everything seem right. It's terrifying how some one so strong, can turn into the thin, pale, scrawny little sleeping creature in front of me at this moment.

He started to squirm as my thoughts rushed on, and the rustling of the stiff bed sheets brought me back into reality instantly. "Soul, are you okay?" I whispered gripping his hand tighter. "Maka, your still here?" He managed to get out through a deep, almost croaky voice. "Of course I am, I wouldn't leave you and if this building was burning down around me. I would stay here and hold your hand, and make everything right. How are you feeling?" I reply. "Maka..." He groans helplessly. "I'm going to get Dr Stein." I say. He just lay there as I detached our hands, crimson eyes wide open, staring out the window to the stars and the moon behind the clouds. I rise, carefully watching him, and leave the room to find Dr Stein. He's at his desk in his office, dissecting something, and when I knock on the door, he jumps backwards, nearly falling off his chair. "Y-yes Maka, what can I do for you?" He says, frazzled. "Soul has woken, and he doesn't feel well." I reply. "I'll be right out." He says after some thought. I guess his idea to dope him up to his eyeballs didn't work after all, it just isolated us from each other for a week. Baka. I'm not one hundred percent sure Stein knows what he's doing. Those notes..

Medical notes

Fracture in upper vertebrate- limited movement if any for several weeks

Severe concussion - causing total memory loss and 5 weeks bed rest

Any other problems found will be treated correctly.

They just seem to, severe. Or maybe it's because I'm afraid to lose him.

When I return to Soul's room, I see Stein has him dressed in a sterile white medical gown, and is flexing his every joint. Checking for any further problems I guess. He just lay there while he fiddled with his ankles, and his knees, then his shoulders, but when he got to his elbow and wrist of his right hand, he froze completely, and a single tear rolled down his freakishly white face. Dr Stein froze too, just looked at Soul uncomprehendingly, and laid his arm back down beside him. I couldn't just stand there uselessly, I had to do something. So I rush to the side I was sitting on before, and grasp his good hand. He squeezes it, almost popping my knuckles, as a second tear rolls down his face. "Soul, what is it?" I say pleadingly. He just lay there, pale as a ghost staring at the ceiling, his eyes full of tears. As they spill out onto his colourless cheeks. I grip his hand tighter, he squeezes harder in return. "Soul, I need you to talk to me, what is it?" Stein says to him. "My arm... " he half squeals out.

*flashback to a few weeks ago*

"M-m-Maka?" He said closing the front door to my little apartment behind him. "Soul, what is it?" I reply, scared. "Come here..." He said, trailing off. I ran around to the front door, as fast as I could, nearly tripping over my own feet. When I got there, the was standing in the hallway, looking down at his swollen, bleeding wrist, with his basketball bag drooping into the floor. As it slid down to the ground, his ball fell out of it and rolled away. I said nothing, I just looked at him in shock. I took him by the good hand and had to drag him to the couch. "Lay down and stay here, I'll be back in a minute." I tell him, "maka don't worry, it's okay, you don't have to do anything, just get me some band aids," he weakly tells me. Ignoring that, I rush into the kitchen and fumble while getting the first aid kit from up the cupboard underneath the sink, and scramble back to the albino, almost tripping over the basketball he dropped before. As I skidded down beside him, he turned his head to look at me. I must have looked terrifying, because he went paler at the sight of me, and the sight of his wrist made me cringe. As I cleaned the wound with anti-septic, I watched tears spring from his eyes, and they nearly sprung from mine. "How did you do this?" I ask him, holding tears back. "I got into a punch up, and they pushed me into the rocks on the side of the basket ball court." He replies, wincing. "What? Why were you in a punch up?" I snap back. "Maka, it doesn't really matter at the moment, I'll explain later." He said whiningly. "Soul, you need to stop getting into fights, your going to get hurt worse than this!" I yell.

After it's all cleaned up, I can clearly see a long gash on the inside of his wrist, but I don't know what's wrong internally, so I pull the first aid guidebook out of the kit. After a fair bit of reading, I reach over to Soul's hand, and lightly press on areas around his wrist. He grows paler, and half squeals for me to stop. At the moment, it's telling me to wrap it in something to make it feel better. Well, I'm not sure what I've got, but I can have a look, and I'm going to need something for the cut too. After burrowing through the box, I pull out a handful of bandages, a dressing, some numbing cream, and a stitching pack. It's going to need it, so I get to work.

When I put the cream on the cut, his body tenses, the relaxes in an instant. Carefully reading the back of the tube, I make him lay there for the required 30 minutes, and go and boil the kettle to make him some tea. "Stay here, I'll be back." I tell him. "Well, I really can't go anywhere Maka."

He replies. As I head off to the kitchen, I make sure I pick up the basket ball, before anything else happens.

30 minutes later

Soul had fallen asleep, so I let him while I fixed it, better anyways, he won't feel me touching it that much. I open the stitching pack, and unwind the sterile thread. I know they thought us how to do this, but I'm not sure I can stomach it. I took a moment to ready myself, and started, stitch by stitch, as tear by tear fell onto him. After about 15 stitches, it was done, the hardest task so far was completed. I stuck the dressing over the top, and wrapped it in the bandages, done. Now I should really stop hovering over him, just watching him breathe and get some of this stuff out of here before he wakes and sees it all. There's packets and things everywhere, and clean freaks like him will flip.

"Soul, Soul wake up, come and have some tea." I say quietly while he slowly opens his eyes, staring at me. I get him to sit up, and before he notices his arm, I sit next to him, holding his warm hand in between my two icy ones. I give him his cup, and he looks at it uncomprehendingly. "What's this?" He asks, "some tea to make you sleep." I reply, and he takes it willingly. Once the cup is drained, he turns to look at me, "Can I go to my bed now?" He asks childishly. "Of course you can." I tell him. He stands and nearly falls over, but I catch him and he grips my arm harder. We slowly walk around to his room, and I plant him in bed, tuck him in like a baby, but he doesn't resist. Before I go, I give him a quick kiss, turn to the door and turn the lights off, but before I leave, I hear a croaky "Maka?". I turn around again, "come here," he calls, and as I reach his bedside, he holds my hand once again, and pulls me down, and kisses me. He ended up sitting bolt upright, one hand wrapped around me, the damaged one leaning over my shoulder. I had no idea he still had the energy to do that, otherwise I would have made him stay awake while I stitched it.

*flashback ends*

Soul's POV

"I hurt it a few weeks ago, and the pain hasn't gone away. It was cut, but Maka stitched it." I manage to get out. "Well, I think we should go for some tests Soul." He says after some thought, and I don't disagree.

He detached all the machines for the time being, still leaving the needles in my arm. He got me to stand up for a bit, I managed it, but weakly and needed to sit down again. Next time he got me to stand up, he made me walk down the hallway to the examination room. As we were walking down the eery hall, I realised that Maka has not let go of my hand, she's still clinging to me. Instantly, I feel dizzy and have to stop. I look down at my white feet as they fade between two and four. And vaguely hear Maka calling my name in the distance before everything goes black again.

Maka's POV

"SOUL! What happened Dr Stein? Is he ok? What can I do?" I yell out. "Nothing Maka, calm down, he will be ok, I will carry him." He scoops him up like he weighs no more than a child, and carries him the rest of the way. I don't let go of his hand, because if I let go, I might not be able to hold it again, once he takes him into the room and shuts the door. He takes him in, and plants him on the empty table in the middle of the room, he tells me to get out, but I start yelling and swearing at him. He literally pushes me out of the room, shuts and locks the door behind me, while telling me that he needs this time alone with soul. I sit with my back on the wall next to the door, and cry, and yell, and scream my head off.

*two hours later*

"Maka, you can come in now." I hear a familiar voice from next to me. I jump at the opportunity. Not seeing soul in two hours is too long. I bound in the door, only to see soul sitting bolt upright, half smiling, arm wrapped in bandages, and machines reconnected. I rush to his side and launch myself into his arms. He's still sitting on the table, so I nearly pull him off it accidentally but Dr Stein catches us and stops us from falling. "Soul, how are you feeling?" I ask him. "Better." He tells me, and half smiles at Dr Stein. "You just blacked out, so how are you feeling better?" I ask him, "because you saved my life Maka, I love you. Without someone being there for me, someone for me to live for, I would have just given up, but it was because of you I made it. You gave me something to fight for. I can feel my cheeks burning, and I can feel Dr Stein awkwardly watching us from behind. "I love you too soul" I reply.

*back in the room*

An army of machines still fights for soul, but whatever Stein did in that room behind closed doors not only saved one life but two. Still curious, I ask him what Stein did, "I wasn't conscious, I woke up just as the light switched on above me, then all I remember was him connecting the drip thingo again and that knocked me out cold." He tells me. "Does anything hurt at the moment?" I ask, concerned. "No, not much that I can notice apart from my wrist." He holds it up in the air, and it looks heavier then when I bandaged it, thicker I guess. "I'm so glad that your feeling better soul, you have no idea what you put me through. Just to have you well enough to have a conversation with is more than I could have hoped for." I say, my eyes welling up again. " I love you, Soul, and there's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for you." I finally have to let go of the tears, but this time, there not tears of sadness or worry, it's tears of happiness.

"I love you too Maka, and for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do." He says, half smiling.

read and review

-MOSHI 47


	3. Chapter 3

_**Please read and review!**_

Maka's POV

"You have no idea what you put me through, Soul. But I'm glad that your okay now, and I'm glad I was to be with you every step of the way. " I tell the boy. Now that he's feeling better, and he's gotten over everything, it's all settled in. "Well I'm glad we're home safe and out of the danger zone." He replies. Colour has almost fully returned to his face and his voice almost back to normal. "So tell me, what really happened? What shocked you so much to make that happen?" I ask, his eyes frozen on mine, white hair standing out in every direction against the purple walls of my apartment. "Some one of your relation has joined the DWMA" he says shakily, "the new girl, Akane, she's an Albarn like you, she's a weapon, and she's here at the DWMA to find a meister." I feel my face drain of colour and heat, and stare uncomprehendingly at the wall behind his shoulder. "Maka are you okay?" He says to me after some time. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit of a shock and a lot to swallow." I tear my eyes away from the wall and seat myself on the couch next to him, he wraps his _still_ bandaged arm around my shoulders. "It's ok, we'll figure it out sooner or later" he whispers to me, "I know soul, we'll make everything right, one way or another." I whisper back.

I launch myself into his arms, and onto his lap. "We can make everything right." He says. I sit up on his lap, and swing my arms around his neck, catching the silk soft strands of white hair between my fingers. "I love you soul." I say slightly chuckling. "Maka, you've got no idea." He whispered back. "How much I love you." I lightly run my fingers down the back of his neck, when I feel a small ridge in his skin, in curiosity, I pry myself out of his hands, and quickly run behind the couch, to see what it it. It's another scar, a long one, stretching diagonally from one corner of his neck to the other. "Soul, what's this?" I ask questioningly. "What's what?" He says, confused. He mustn't know it's there, or remember it. "This scar, on the back on your neck, where did it come from?" "Maka, there's nothing there, there never was. Are you feeling okay, are you hallucinating?" He rants. "Go and see for yourself soul."

Souls POV

I run into the bathroom to see in the three way mirror. I still think she's hallucinating. "What the fuck?" Escapes my lips before I can catch what I'm saying. She wasn't hallucinating, it even feels like a scar, the kind you get from a cut with something sharp, like when I cut my finger with a kitchen knife, like a scalpel. "Maka, did stein say anything?" "About what" she asks immediately. "About experiments?" I say, avoiding her gaze in the mirror. "No, why?" "Never mind, it's over now, and I'm glad it is too." I say back.

Maka's POV

He's confusing me now, really confusing. The doorbell breaks my intertwined thoughts, and as I rush to the door to see through the peephole, I tell soul to lay down and act sick, like he can't concentrate. He's been given some time of school for recovery, even though he's almost as good as gold, and they let me have the same time off as his carer. Through the peephole, I see bunches of purple and blue flowers, and a hint of blonde hair, and a green eye. It's that new girl, Akane, so I let her in. "Hello, Maka." The flowers speak. "Come in, come in. " I reply enthusiastically. She plants the flowers on the coffee table in front of him, and sits awkwardly on the chair next to him, where I usually sit. 'Hey, Soul.' She says, almost cautiously, he just groans, believably too. 'I brought you some flowers, hope you like them.' She breaks the silence sweetly. 'Hes slowly getting better, but he's still pretty sore. ' I say, 'he would be" she replies, looking guiltily down at his still bandaged arm. What's she got to do with it, he was at the basket ball courts, a group of other boys pushed him into the rocks, not her. "Well anyway, I've got to go to school now, leave him to rest more. Thanks maka,"as she leaves, she lightly brushes her pale hands through his white hair, which causes him to blush slightly, and makes me kind of jealous. Every time I try that, it ends up a nosebleed scenario. As he hears the door courteously shut behind her, he flicks one eye open, making sure the coast is clear, then sitting up, staring uncomprehendingly at the coffee table laden with flowers. "What's all this for?" I ask him, "I guess she felt bad." He replied. "I don't understand, your going to have to explain that later, now I need to fix your bandages up." I gently push one of his scrawny shoulders back down to the couch, telling him to lay down. "What for? Why do I have to lay down?" He tries to tell me otherwise. "Because I care." Lousy excuse but that's all I can think of. "Maka, it was just a scratch, it's fine, you over reacted." So I let him sit up, he's not going anywhere. It's really gross, but it's almost healed. I slowly unwrap it, sometimes catching the string, which makes him half yell at me. "I'm sorry, I can't see it it's caught!" "Well then, can you tKe the stitches out?" "I can try, but if it hurts to much, I'll get Dr Stein to come." "Your over reacting again.." It went on for a while, but when I started pulling them out, he couldn't stand it anymore, and just gave in to letting me call stein.

"Hello Stein?." "Yessssss" "it's maka, can you come around?" "When?" "Ummmmmmm, like now.?" "Be there in two!" Well that was easy, I whisper in my head. I go chill with soul on the couch, but I can't stand looking at it, "wrap it up soul" he sits there looking at me like, why? So I eventually have to re wrap it in the bandages, and throw myself back onto the couch. "Thanks for, everything maka" "that's what I'm here for, to help you and look after you as my weapon." 'KNOCK KNOCK KNOK" someone's pounding on the door, begging for refuge in the rain, "I'll get it" I bound to the door, wow, stein was really quick, I barely had time to talk to soul. "I open the door to a creaking, snapping, turning bolt sound, and look up to the source, a glowing white lab coat and soaked in rain, standing out against the grey sheets of rain falling heavily behind him, bolt turning, medial case in hand. "Stein come in, did u walk?" I ask curiously, "maka I live around the corner, I'm not going to catch a taxi am I?" "I guess not, but next time take an umbrella." "So what's up maka?" "When soul came home with a cut, I used the Shibusen emergency pack, an it stitched it back up, but he was sleeping so that was easy, but now it hurts too much for me to take them out." "Okay, I'll fix that."

He walks slowly, dripping from his lab coat, into the lounge room and to where I told soul to stay, on the couch. I leave the room, because even when I tried, it started to bleed, and I just can stand the sight of blood, especially not someone you love with heart and soul in pain.

Although I'm not in the room, I still want to stand outside the door in the kitchen, just in case. Listening carefully, I even try to conceal my breathing so no one knows I'm there,even though it doesn't matter, I try anyway. I hear stein trying to make polite small talk with soul, then asking what happened, and what was wrong, soul explained, and then he looked at his arm, it all went silent, until I hear something that I did want to, not in the least. "It's infected, you have to come back to the infirmary again tomorrow so I can take the bandage of completely and have a closer look." I hear muffled through the door. Oh no, not that place again, I don't think I can handle it, and he was just getting over the rest of it. My heart sinks just at the thought if those confining walls, I don't think I can do it. I've missed so much school, but to help him I'd do it any day. I bust into the room, pretending I didn't hear anything, but I don't look at his arm just incase. "So, how is it Dr Stein?" "Maka, he needs to come back to the infirmary again tomorrow, just so I can see things a bit better in a sterile environment. He can stay here for tonight." "Okay, is it anything serious?" "I can't really tell, but I'll find out somehow." This just makes me worry even harder. I really am worried about soul, he's always getting hurt, always, and it's never been any different the whole time I've known him, but now things are just happening to close together, back to back. I just wish he could stop being hurt, because it's like we are connected, what hurts him physically, hurts me mentally, and vies versa. I'll always stay by his side, even of it kills me.

The next morning

It's early morning, and bloody cold. I quickly get dressed and rush into souls room to get him up. God he still looks like a baby when he's asleep, scrawny, white haired tan skinned thing curled up in his tangled sheets. "Soul" I whisper at his bedside, "come on, wake up, we've got to go". Groans. He throws the tangle of sheets off his body, and pulls me down for a kiss, I can sense his nosebleed coming. I have to sit on the edge of his bed, I get dizzy too quick, and I look out the window to the fog covered city while he fiddles with my blonde piggy tails, curling it around his finger gently. "The rains given up!" I whisper, "yeh, and I've got to go back to that stupid hospital again..." "Soul, your going back for a reason" "why?" "Because I love you."

He tries to catch my gaze, and I can feel him staring at my lightly blushed cheeks. I just keep focused on the fog. "No really, why?" He insists. "I'm making you go back because I care about you, I don't want you to get hurt any more, it's hard enough fixing you up all the time, your so, accident prone." "Thanks, kind of nice to feel like at least one person in the world cares about me, at least one." He half smirked while fiddling with the tips of my hair. "Now get up, we need to go." "Alright alright I'm going." He chuckles.

I go out into the kitchen to make some breakfast for us, and while I'm cooking the bacon, he yells at me from his room, "maka where the hell did that black jacket go?" "Soul, to be honest, I've got no idea" I yell back down the hall.

After we've eaten, and we're ready to go, I make him find a jacket, even if he has to wear one of mine, I'm not letting him go out there in the cold in a tee shirt. "Go check on the coat rack near the front door soul." He doesn't go, probably didn't hear me, so I go. Sure enough, it's not there, but steins lab coat Is, and it's still wet. "Hey soul did stein take his jacket off yesterday?" "Ummmmm, yeh, I think so." "Cuz he's taken off with your leather jacket." "God damn." "I'll shove his lab coat in the dryer, you can wear it it's long enough to be warm." "Do I have to? I'll look really wierd, then they'll think I'm the doctor, you don't want that." I just leave it at that.

Once it's dry, I take it around to his room. He's trashed it. Everything is all over the floor, "What are you doing Soul?" "Looking for something." "Like what?" I say plonking myself on the end of his bed. "Something that..." He trails off, and slightly shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, it's not important." I see the tip of an old photo hanging out the side of the draws in his bedside tables, curious, I go and have a look. It's us, still little kids, short, immature looking kids smiling at a camera and pulling odd faces, memories.

He looks at my weird reaction to the picture and starts bawling. "Awe soul, don't you remember? These are the good times, there's nothing to cry about." He won't look up at my face, "hmm?" "I was fishing out a good memory to take with me." He says, hugging me. "But soul, your coming back aren't you?" I seat him on the bed next to me.

"Maka?" "Yes" "don't be angry at me, but I need to tell you something I've known for a while."

-Moshi 47


	4. Chapter 4

Souls POV

I really don't want to tell her, it's going to break her heart in two. But I know if I tell her now, she can start preparing herself, and it won't be as bad. "Maka, I need you to promise me one thing..." "Anything for you Soul." She tells me, but I know even the brave hearted maka can't stand up against this one, there's nothing she can do. "When I go, I want you to remember me in a good way." I tell her cautiously, without giving up too much information. "Ohh umm, where are you going." "I'm going somewhere where you can't, and I can't come back after I'm gone." Crystal tears fall from her glistening eyes, onto her red plaid skirt. I feel her iron grip on my icy hand tighten, as she stands up in a rage and starts yelling, at no one, but herself. She throws herself into the middle of my bed, and yells into my pillow.

Maka's POV

WHY SOUL..? OF ALL THE PEOPLE ON EARTH, YOU PICKED SOUL TO DIE..? WHAT IS THIS? I have to stop yelling, I can't breathe. I just turn onto my side, and feel the soft pillow under my hand, looking at his emotionally stricken face. Just the smell of his room is enough to make me cry again. I pull him down next to me, just to rest a little bit. He strokes my hair out of my eyes, "Maka, it's okay, I have to go, you've got to learn to let go of me someday from now on." It's a lot to swallow at once, I can't handle this, he's my life partner, I'm going to be alone all my life, like my father. Sometimes I wonder if I'm already on the verge of insanity. Anything is possible.

After I've washed my face a couple of times, I have to go out of the bathroom. I can't look at this house anymore. I need to do something with soul before it's too late, I ask him in a shaky voice, "where do you want to go, we'll go to the hospital later, I need to do something with you." "I want to do something permanent. Let's just go walk around the mall a bit until we find something." He takes me by the hand, but I don't think he remembers me sliding the white lab coat onto his shoulders. The sleeves are that long they nearly cover our hands, but he looks like a real doctor. It's kind of scary, you know, dressing him up like that. "Are you warm?" "Oh um, yeah, I forgot I had this on, I guess it's better wearing this that one of your trench coats that's too small. " " it suits you, you know soul?" "If you like it, I should wear it more often." This kind of makes me laugh, he's not gone yet, I'm just holding on to him, for as long as I possibly can, without holding him back.

We walk past a tattoo parlour before we get to the mall. We were walking because his arm is weak and I can't ride his motorbike. He stops at the door, just looking off into thin air, I have no idea what kind of thoughts are rushing through his head. "Hey um maka, speaking of some thing permanent," he points to the shop. At the moment, I would do anything for him, physically, mentally and emotionally, so I don't disagree. We walk in together, he still hasn't let go of my hand, or have I let go of his. Maybe it's a good idea, if we get a tattoo with our names on it, then maybe we can stay inseparable. We ask for the design book, skimming through the pages, not willing to miss something. I spot an infinity sign, and apparently you can get it done with a word in it. "Hey soul, let's get this one, I'm getting your name in it." I whisper to him, "okay same here, I like this one." He points to a soul shaped one, I guess I can get two. Papas going to be mad at me, but to be honest, I don't give a two flying shits about papa anymore, he's nothing to me. I think of another one, some think completely unusual, I can have the key on my other wrist, and soul can have the lock. I point it out to him, hand he scraps the soul shaped one for the one I chose. When we hand the books back, we tell them what we want and go back to our corner. When they call us, they want me to go alone, but soul comes in anyway. But when they ask where I want mine, I tell them one on each wrist, and when they ask him, he says over his heart. I have the key to soul's heart. Now and always.

Being a girl, it's only natural for me to flinch and pull away, but I didn't make them stop. The guy doing mine ran out of ink and went to get some more, but when he was gone, soul picked up his gun, and drew something on my arm, a heart, with his name underneath, and scrambled back to his seat before he came back, lucky he had already done that arm so he wouldn't see.

I had to look away when soul took his shirt off, where did that body come from out of doing nothing? Secretly, I blush, but I'm trying to hold things like that back at the moment. I have no idea, but he's really tough after all he's been through. Doesn't even batter an eyelid, not so much to even flinch.

I really don't feel like talking much, I just sit and stare with my wrists red and tingling. At least now I will remember him in a good way.

When we get back out onto the street, I look at my phone, it's already four, if we don't go to the hospital now, we won't get in. He looks a little weird, they said he can't wear a tight fitted tee shirt for a while, so he just slid the lab coat back on, bare chested, lock showing. I take him by the hand, "where are we going now?" He asks me, "the hospital, it's getting late." "Really maka, I don't want to go." "But soul, you have to go, it can get much worse, you know."

It's a fair hike to the hospital, so by the time we get there, my feet really hurt. It's feels kind of melancholy, walking through the huge sliding doors, hands intertwined. We walk around to steins lab, he's locked away in there, dissecting something again. The smell of mould and smoke overwhelm my eyes making them water. "Hey, Stein.." Says soul, "Ahhhh, soul, I was wondering where my lab coat went, I think I accidentally took your jacket, it's over there." He points to a bench. "Come with me," he tells him, and soul follows. "Sit here." He points to a metal chair under a metal table. Stein sits on the other side, and makes him take his lab coat off to see his arm. He's got no shirt underneath, sitting there weakly leant against the metal table bare chestedand it's really cold in here, I'm wondering if he'll catch something in here. I don't like the looks of stein healing it quick like he did last time, he looks madly possessed today, overly happy too. Worry starts to fill my overly complicated brain, as he takes the bandage off again. I don't know why, but I still start to feel sick every time they take the bandage off and put a new one on.

I have to sit down, I'm feeling light headed already, so I plant myself on floor. He looks up from his work, "maka don't sit on the floor, sit on the chair!" And the he goes quiet again, looking back down to the spindly white arm with a bright red, long patch down the middle against the silver table. "You might need to stay a few nights in here, the medicine I have to give you, you can't take it at home." Souls expression drops, and so does my stomach, I thought we'd be home for dinner. I guess not.

Stein doesn't wrap it back up, which makes me feel even more sick, and he leads into a small room , very like the one we stayed in last time, and the similarities make me shiver. "You forgot your jacket soul" I remind him. He's making me blush again, and how's really not the time for romance. "Oh don't worry, I'll get it." Stein breaks in. I watch his white coat disappear into the distance of the long corridor. Soul sits kind of helplessly at the end of his bed, staring at the floor. "geez he seems kinda happy..." Soul says weakly, I wish there was just something I could do to save him, or at least something to make him feel less depressed about being in here, but that's not going to work because I feel the same. "Yeh, that's why I'm staying here with you, awake all night. You never know what his urges will make him do to you." I reply. "Dissection" he says back in a creepy voice that's meant to mimic steins serious tone. That makes me laughter that hard, I'm nearly rolling around on the floor. Even his facial expression was hilarious. He just laughs lightly and the humour is gone, I can tell he's not feeling the best, he's never usually like this. "Why don't you lay down soul?" He sort of crawls up the bed into the middle of it and sits cross legged for a bit. I crawl up next to him and stretch out, and then he slides back next to me. I rest my heavy head against his fast beating chest, and the strong rhythm of his heart makes my eyelids heavy. I guess stein must have misplaced his jacket, because it's taking him an awfully long time to get back. But as I start to drift of, and soul looks like he's asleep too, I have to peel my eyes back open and get my tired legs to cooperate and get out of bed when a rush of footsteps heavily pounds down the hall. I rush to sit up without waking soul, and nearly falling back out of the chair when I sit next to him. I take his hand in mine, and play with his fingers. Stein busts through the door before he realises souls asleep, and then he mutes his heavy breathing, but he's awake already, half groaning and rubbing his eyes. It's not even six yet, but he must be really tired if he's already sleeping. A single stream of golden afternoon light beams through the floor to ceiling window, dancing off his messy white hair, showing the sheen of sweat glistening over his chest. He's not in a good way at the moment, I just need someone to fix him up, I guess stein will take care of that.

He's grown so tough, that when stein comes back around to his bedside, he doesn't even flinch when he puts a drip in his good arm, like a fly just sat on his shoulder. Something's not right, stein does whatever he has to do, and leaves. Souls usually a garbage bin when it comes to food, and when I order for him he'll give me a list as long as my arm when I ask him what he wants, he just says nothing. I plant a quick kiss on his forehead and leave him, he should start picking up again now.

I walk back out through steins lab, he's not there, so I write him a note and leave it on his desk.

Dear Stein,

I'm going to get some dinner, I'll bring some back for you too, but while I'm gone, I need you to keep an eye on soul, he's feeling worse at the moment, and I'm worried about him.

-Maka

I really don't like being around town alone at night, so I call tsubaki, "hello, tsubaki here, what can I do for you today?" "Hey tsu, it's maka, I'm outside the hospital, and I've got to go get dinner for soul, I don't like walking around town at night, can you come and pick me up please?" "Sure, I'll be there in a tic." "Okay, see you soon."

It's really creepy out here, like it's abandoned. But I don't really care about that right now, I just need to go and get back as soon as possible, he's making me worry.

Steins POV

It's getting really cold in here, and it's like a wet cold, I'm wondering if I should go and get into my pyjamas when I go to my desk and find a note from maka, oh well, I'll just sit with soul, keep an eye on him like she wanted.

I really don't want to tell her about his condition, knowing how attached they are to one another, it would break them too far apart, at least she's giving him something to try for, something to live for. I'll fix him up as best I can, but he's never going to make it back to normal, no matter how hard he tries. And I don't want him ending up being an experiment either.

I go and sit at the foot of his bed, he's sleeping again, and he's making me worry too, he's really weak all of a sudden, and it's like someone's switched the energy off. All he does is sleep, and all we do is worry, but only he knows how much longer he can keep it up.

I saw his tattoo, and I'm kind of wondering what it's for. What significance is a lock without a key?

Please read and review

-moshi47


	5. Chapter 5

Maka's POV

We walk back to the hospital in silence, I can see tsubaki is to scared to ask me anything about soul, she understands what I feel. but I wonder if she's found out about what's going to happen. I haven't told anyone, and he's been with me the whole time, so I doubt it.

I leave tsubaki at the hospital door, and make my own way back through the eery hall, back to steins office, and into souls little prison. Im surprised to see stein actually did what i wrote down, to keep an eye on soul, but he ended up falling asleep as well. So I go over to he window, and just stare out for a bit, when the rain starts, and I can finally reflect quietly to myself, alone, without ears listening and eyes watching me whisper to myself, as the cold tears run their icy claws down my hot cheeks. Sometimes its just too much for me to try and hold it in, sometimes, when your on your last resort with life, you just want to go die in a hole. all my life, its like something has been making me drive myself away from people, my mother died shortly after i was born, my father only raised me for government funding, and now my life partner is going to die? I was meant to be alone, since the day I was born. Rejected, outcast, alone, Maka Albarn.

"your not alone yet maka... Im still trying, but we only have one resort left to try if this fails, nothing else will cure him. Whatever it is, its attacking his heart, its not in rhythm anymore, if it stops, theres nothing i can do to change it, but i can only try to help, if only, to just ease him out of the world." this makes me burst out crying, and stein wraps his arms around me, and whispers "its okay maka, dont worry, hes not in any pain.' my sobbing wakes soul, or maybe he's just pretending to be asleep for some reason. Stein releases me, and i go to his bedside, "i brought dinner!" I say, trying to make light of the situation, even though the tears still rush from my eyes. He sits up, reaching for my frozen hands. He's really warm, unusually warm, and I reach up to check is forehead, and he's really hot, like boiling hot. "Hey stein, have you got any ice?" I ask, even thought my sobs still overcome my body, I try to keep a calmer voice, at least for soul's sake. "Yeh, I've got some, I'll get it for you." And he leaves. I walk right up next to his bed, and he lazily sits up, "how are you feeling? You don't look to good..." I whisper, brushing the stray damp strands of hair out of his eyes. "Bad... I was fine, until tonight." He whispers croakily back. Steins back, with a bag of ice, "here" he says passing it to soul, he lies down again, and puts in on his forehead. A small weak sigh escapes his lips, as he closes his eyes, I sit next to him, stroking his silk soft hair back, just thinking, and thinking, about everything and nothing, how shitty my life has become, and just how lucky I am even to know a genuinely good person like soul. The amount of times he's saved my life is countless, my debt to him worth everything I've got. I just wish he could be here for longer, we're too young to die.

As the night drags on, I can't fall asleep just with my head rested against the edge of the bed, so I find myself drifting between the moonlit sky and a sleeping soul, until I finally make him move over in the middle of the night so I can crawl into bed next to him. It's not easy to fall asleep still, with one ear over his heart, and listen. It skips a beat, and I panic, so every time he does that, I frantically sit upright, and put my hands on his chest, just to make sure he's still breathing. I wish he could stop being so hurt all the time, so we could get on with life. We're too young. As I lay down again after checking him the last time, he groans at me. "Ma-ak-aa?" "I'm right here, what's wrong." "Nothing" he says with a weak smile and falls back asleep. I've never seen him sleep this much, ever, he always goes to bed late, playing video games until 4 in the morning, he doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning, bit that's just him, I don't want to get up either, I could probably sleep all day if I didn't have to go to school. But I do, like everyday, that's why I like the weekends.

I wake to a eerily sunlit room, golden rays bursting through the window, glinting off his white hair. He's still dead to the world, so as I get out of bed, I try not to wake him. I just stand at the window, watching the sun rise over the city, hot and humid, horrible weather, something bad in the air. I end up sitting at the window cross legged, up until about mid day, when I head a soft rustling sound, and a weak voice. "Hey maka, come here..." Silently, I make my way to him, he grabs my hand, and sits up. "You know, I don't know how much longer I'm going to last. I feel worse." "Stein said it would take a while" I hug him, and get him to sit on the edge of the bed, so I can sit next to him and talk. "Your going to be fine, I know it. And even if there's nothing stein can do, I'll keep you here, no matter what." "but theres nothing you can do about it maka, nothing you can change" "oh, believe me boy, theres a lot a girl can do when she wants to, the way i fight, i never give up." i say ruffling his white hair back.

Its almost as if i can hear the time ticking away in the background, as the days tick past, there is no improvement. Some days, its kind of impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And some days, i feel like im on the verge of losing him.

He just lay there lifeless once more, until i cant watch anymore and i have to wake him up. He's actually just sleeping, just because he's got nothing else to do. "Sup maka?" He sits up, groggily rubbing his eyes. "Nothing, I just wanted to see if you were okay." I reply. "Yeh I'm fine." "Come and sit in the sun" I tell him. He hasn't been outside in weeks, that's why his face is so pale, and just because he looks even cuter when the sun hits his hair, and glints off his eyes. "Is it still sore?" I ask, kind of worrying. "Sort of, but not as bad." My hearts beats faster, nearly jumping out of my chest, just knowing that he's getting better, maybe I won't lose him, even though he still sets some of the alarms off at night. "Do you want me to get stein? Maybe you can go home..." "Yeh, okay, wait for me, I'll come for a walk."

He finds it hard to balance on his own, so that gives me a really good excuse to hold his hand. Winding through the empty corridors, jumping at every creaky noise we hear, and I think we get lost. "Do you even know where your going?" He asks me. "Nope" I chuckle, he just laughs, and we eventually find his lab again.

There's always been something about steins lab that I didn't like, that one niggling feeling that you don't want to ignore. "Ahh, soul, I haven't seen you in a while!" He says freakishly turning around with a scary grin on his face. "I was wondering if I could go home yet." Soul asks, quietly. "Let me have a look at your arm" it still hasn't healed yet, which is kind of a worry. "Stay another few days, then ill have another look." Stein tells him. "Ahhh god damn it. Another few days feels like a year when your locked up inside like some prisoner." He tells me when we get out of the lab. This time we didn't get lost, I remembered, for once.

He just sits there and plays with his phone. Hours tick by again, until there's no more sunlight glaring in through the window, but the moon, high and proud in the sky. We would have been better off at home, but I can't change steins mind, and I'm leaving his health in his hands, whatever is best for soul.

Soul, however doesn't look that sick anymore, if anything he looks bored and restless. Again, they days tick by, and we lose track of time, we lose track of everything.

As I wallow in the depths of my complicated thoughts, my mind somehow finds it's way back to that one time, out of the many, where he risked his life saving me...

*Flashback starts*

A terrifying scream in the distance, only brings to light what it facing me right now.

In a struggle to keep me behind him, he jumps in front of me, taking the full force of the black sword across his chest, in a spray of crimson, he lands in human form.

"Mm-a-ka. Get th-e he-ll outta here," his voice was already struggling to reach me. I couldn't leave him, not for dear life, if he died I would hold him in my arms, doing only what I can to save him.

I watched him bleed, I couldn't stop it, no matter how hard I tried, but I never gave up.

I wandered if shinigami Sama knew, about us being here in Rome doing this, I wandered if he knew about soul at this very moment, if he even cared.

My thoughts were interrupted by a crashing sound through the door behind me, and a Black Death scythe punched through the door, the pink haired mongrel hanging from it.

Every weapon has a Meister, there was someone standing behind the scythe, "stein!" I yelped, "help" I burst out, he pulled the death scythe out of the victims chest, dropping it to the floor, rushing in towards the white haired boy, taking of his lab coat and splaying it over him.

Crona fell to the floor in a thud, drowning in a pool of black, and screams of terror.

A red whisp of hair passes the door, my heart drops to the pit of my stomach, it's papa, god what am I going to do now?

"If we don't get him proper treatment in time, we'll lose him." Stein says, Soul's passed out, and as pale as a ghost.

He risked his life for mine...

*flashback ends*

I know for good, these thoughts, and this memory, will never leave me, because he's the reason I'm still here, and that is only one of numerous times.

Breaking my thought, piercing my veil of silence, an siren sounds. Soul's eyes immediately fill with panic, I grab his good arm and literally pull him out with me, but when we reach the empty hall, a voice breaks into the microphone after some static cracking, telling us to remaining our rooms, and to stay away from windows and doors. I know what this is, and panic overrides my level headedness. I'm afraid if I do anything il get souls life in danger, so we scramble back into the cell.

Shortly after Soul catches his breath again, I get him to come and sit in the corner furthest away from the window, curled up, hands locked together. He's scared, I can tell by the look in his eyes, he seems slightly vacant, but I don't want to say what's really happening, or he will make us leave. "Are you okay?" I ask him gently, he just nods his head, avoiding eye contact with me completely.

The sirens finally let up, but it doesn't mean we are safe. My phone rings in my pocket, and I take it out to see it's from shinigami sama. I answer.

"Hello, Maka Albarn"

A low whisper only just reaches me though the phone.

"Maka, I know you can't leave soul, and he's too weak to come with you, but there's an emergency and I need you."

"I'm completely useless without a weapon."

"Well whatever you do, I need you."

" I'll be there."

"In not leaving you here alone." Soul tells me as soon as I hang up, I flash my eyes past him, curled up in the corner like a kid, hair glowing an most fluorescent in the dim light, eyes wide.

"I'm not going without you. Do you think you can handle a fight?"

Please read and review

-Moshi 47


	6. Chapter 6

Makas POV

The sound of metal on metal is enough to bring me back to earth, and the dripping of blood filling me with fear. I'm numb, I can't feel anything, all I can see are the spears flying out of our attacker. I fall to my knees, scythe in hand, flopping my pigtails forward, clenching my free hand into a fist.

"Shujuaat."

I mutter to myself under my breath. Bravery. The one thing everyone has, you just have to find it within you first.

I regain my strength, making sure I have enough to finish the kishin, dead for good, releasing the 1000 trapped human souls in danger. There was no reason, no reason for the kishin to take the lives of the innocent. All he wanted was power, and all he had was madness, so he made do with what he had. Bastard.

This fight is the deciding, the one that makes the choice of whether all the people in death city live or die, if I watch my loved ones suffer again, or I make the choice to save them. A mental image of them all standing there, waiting in anticipation gives me hope, and will to defeat the kishin.

I burst out into a sprint up the tower, soul appears through the scythe, "maka? You bloody idiot! What are you doing? Risking your life like this?" I ignore him, I keep running, the only time in my life I will be determined enough to do something of my own will, I'm risking myself for my family and my friends, who mean more to me than my own life.

A single tear rolls down my cheek, a single tear of fear, of courage, of bravery.

I keep thinking that this is some twisted dream, that I'll wake up sometime soon to find myself in bed screaming my head off. But it's reality, reality doesn't change things, but sometimes you can't change reality.

I reach the top, not even struggling for breath. Dodging the first few spears, I dive further and further towards the Kishin Asura, and the attacks get closer and closer.

"SOUL RESONANCE" we yell in unison, resonating to make a hell of an attack, slicing into the kishins body, stopping it is the force of the black blood. My scythe returns to normal when our resonation gives out. He magically pieces himself back together in a instant, making me blink to see if this is even possible.

"You stupid little girl, you and your silly little games, think you can defeat me?" He yells out in a deep throated growl. Something really hard hits me right between my eyes, making the world spin in circles around me. It forcefully pushes me back, nearly to the edge of the tower, making me fall to my knees again, this time, not in weakness, but in pain, deadly uncontrollable pain.

Trembling, I regain my feet, another attack comes our way, this time with Kishin controlled bandages, the Kishin sort that will strangle you to death. I easily slice through it with my scythe, forcing my way toward it once again. I won't give up, and if it kills me, so be it.

Souls POV

I'm not coping too well, I feel really weak, and I'm not sure how long I can keep fighting like this. It's madness,! But I completely understand the way she feels right now, I feel the same, but I've got no one to save besides maka. That is my duty as her weapon.

This fight keeps on going, and I keep getting weaker. Attack upon attack, weaker and weaker, further and further away from victory, closer and closer to defeat.

My eyelids are growing heavy, and I can feel myself beginning to grow limp, thank god this doesn't affect my weapon form, or everyone would be in danger. I wish I could be stronger for her, she's doing everything on her own. It's just, she's always there for me, and when I need to be there for her,I physically can't.

The only way I can, is to defend her.

She looks like she's frozen, eyes fixed on the incoming spear.

I do what I can, and I will defend her and if it kills me. I instantly return to human form, and launch myself in front of her, becoming her human shield, taking the full force of the attack, right through my heart. I feel no pain, just light headed ness, and if know this time, there's no looking back for me, this is it.

I can't see anything but red, even though my eyes are wide open. I can't feel anything, except her shaking my shoulders. My whole life flashes before my eyes, my younger brother as a baby, playing my first piano, the disappointment in my parents eyes, meeting maka for the fist time, our first battle, our first victory, my first kiss, Maka's blonde pigtails streaming through my hands, her smile, her laugh, and then noth...

Maka's POV

"SOUL! SOUL ANSWER ME PLEASE. SOUL!?" I'm frantically yelling his name, cradling his head in my arms, I slide his eyes shut, and collapse on his chest, crying screaming, and yelling at him to come back, hugging his chest to check for his anti rhythmic heartbeat. Non existent. Gone.

This is the one time in my life I know I can't save him, I've learnt that once a pool of blood reaches a certain size there's no going back. This isn't fair, why did he do that? I was prepared to die for his life! What am I going to do now?

I have to peel my eyes away from him, and lay his head back on the ground. I have to fight, and if it's the last thing I do. I'm going with him. I will defeat this Kishin.

I don't know what happened, blades sprout from my arms, and from my back. Grinding against the kishin, I realise I'm going nowhere, and I'm only running on adrenaline. I'm starting to resort to old fashioned attacks, which I know are not of the caliber to defeat the kishin.

I conjure all the bravery I can, with a last glimpse at soul, I put everything into this fist. With a run across the tower, and a punch to his face, a kishin in shards, and a shower of souls. Pure, blue, human, trapped souls, released, free.

Nothing more remains of the kishin, nothing at all. So with a piercing scream, I bolt back to soul. The blades coming from my arms and by back have disappeared. I wish I could turn back to ands of time, and take the attack for him.

I fall into a heap beside him, watching his chest remain still, watching the still bleeding wound. Wait, it's still bleeding? That means he's still alive? I had lost every hope for life in any form when I saw the extremities of his wound. I reach for his hand, looking at the soul shaped shadows dance around on his face. At first touch, his eyes flick open, alarmed for a split second, "SOUL!" I scream, but then they close again. The scent of blood invades my mind, the nonexistent warmth of his still hands in mine wrenches at my heart. I hold his him in my arms, clinging to whatever scent of life still remains on him. I can't call someone, I don't have my phone. A few drops of blood fall from a cut above my eye into his snow white hair, staining it red. I don't care about anything, but I need him to stay with me. The world blurs and spins around me. The last thought I can process is no more than a few words. "Bravery is something everyone has, which makes it just like madness. If everyone has bravery, be strong, you can pull through, Soul." I lay my head on his chest, a pounding of running footsteps comes up behind me, and a single, feint beat of his heart disappears into thin air.

please read and review!

-Moshi 47


	7. Chapter 7

Maka's POV

Where am I? Why am I here? What are they doing to me? Am I alone? Where is soul? Why does my head hurt?

I sit bolt upright, realising I am alone, but as the lights in the ceiling spin around me, I've pulled some tubes out of my arm in anticipation, which in turn send off alarms. Someone will come, and someone will explain everything, but for the time being, I just lie down again.

And someone does come, not exactly the face I was hoping for. Stein stops at the door, hesitating, checking if I was still asleep. I sit up, but then I notice my hands. Covered in little cuts and bruises, and in some places, stitches. What? Why?

"Maka, it's okay!" He tells me. It's not okay, and I know that for a fact. I don't know what happened, but if I'm here, and I'm not with soul, something is wrong. I must look on the edge of a breakdown and tears. "Look, this might take a lot of explaining. I need you to comes with me." He begins.

I follow him down the icy, anti-septic smelling hallways, and notice I'm only wearing a thin gown.

My whole body aches, and I'm questioning how stable I am, but more so, the whereabouts of Soul.

He leads me out into the small, half dead garden out the front of his lab. The stars are shining, even though a thick layer of cloud hides them from my eyes. He brushes past me, coat nearly getting caught on the tubes sticking out of my hand, making them sting. We sit on the little bench, face to face. "Please explain everything stein, I'm confused and worried. Where is soul? Why am I here? What did you do to me? Why am I in so much pain? What happened? How long ago did this happen? Am I alone?" The questions rush directly from my mind without thinking. I'm silenced by his hand on my shoulder. "Let me explain, calm down, you might not remember anything but I will do my best." I can see the light sheen of sweat forming on his forehead even though it's freezing cold.

"You are here because you and your partner were seriously injured while saving death city against the kishin Asura. You may find you are very sore for the next few weeks, you can't stop that.

I saved your life and fixed your wounds. See?" He points to my eye, and then to my other arm which is wrapped up really tight up to my shoulder. I reach up to touch my eye, and find that just above my eyebrow, there's a long line of something rough, I think there stitches. "I don't know what exactly happened to you, but I did my best to fix it. You may have to stay here for a few days."

Somehow that line is really familiar, like I've heard it a million times.

"Your in pain because your healing, slowly, but your getting there. I can try an give you something but no guarantees. Your pretty beat up as you have already noticed." He says with a slight laugh, twisting the bolt in his head. However, I don't find any of this funny.

"This all happened about 3 days ago, you have just been out of it. And no, you are not alone."

He says this last sentence with a sense of seriousness. "I am here."

"What about soul?" I ask, surprised at how croaky my voice actually is. He takes a deep breath and continues. "Please, I need you to understand..." He trails off, and I begin to shudder at the thought, gone. "He's not doing so well, but he's still here, he's actually in my lab." A small sigh of relief escapes my lips. Thank god, thank shinigami. "Can I see him?" I ask somewhat enthusiastically. "Maka, that was just the good news." He says. "So what's the bad news?" I ask.

"Thing is, I'm not sure how much longer he can stay alive for. He's in too much pain, and he's rejecting treatment." He explains. My eyes well up. "And there's no way you can save him? Not even through an experiment?"I ask as the tears begin to run done my burning cheeks. A smug grin washes over his face, there's nothing he can't think of, or anything he can't save.

"Ahhhh, there is one option, but it's very dangerous, possibly futile." He says, "but as long as you can guarantee he's is in no pain, then do your best. As his meister, I give consent." I blurt back.

"Do you want to see him now just in case?" He asks cautiously. "I want to see him now, and even after you fix him, no matter what the result." I reply. "And you are 100% sure about this?" The truth is, I'm not 100% sure, but I am 100% sure that I am doing what he did for me! protect him. And even if I can't save him, I want to ease him out of the world.

I stand, and my head spins are getting worse, and I have a throbbing headache. But I ignore it and follow him. Thank shinigami soul is here with me, I don't know what would happen if he wasn't, and I don't want to know.

The feeling of heaviness returns when I enter his lab, the same sort of heaviness I'd always hated about it whenever I took soul here. Winding through the crazy hallways is enough to make anybody mad, but just through about 10 doorways, we come to a final double door into what looks like the centre of steins lab. He stops me. "Now maka, I need you to understand, he's not awake at the moment, and don't try to wake him. Don't get upset when you see him. Okay?" He tells me. I reply with a simple nod of my head, but I can't control my emotions as the tears find their way out of my eyes.

He pushes one door open, letting me in, and I nearly break down, just at the sight of a tuft of his white hair sticking up. I'm not sure I can handle it. "I'll leave you for a bit, just don't touch anything."

I just nod again. He must understand, everyone has feelings.

I lead my focus to soul, who is like me, covered in little cuts and bruises, stitches and bandages. I can see in his array of machines behind him once again, that he is fighting for his life. His heart... It's hard to watch, but someday I have to realise this is reality, and sometimes you can't change it.

He's as pale a a ghost, white as paper, no colour or life left in him. I don't want to wake him, but I gently touch his forehead, he's stone cold, yet boiling hot at the same time. I can't hold his hand, he has cuts and stitches all over them, and I know how much they hurt. A few tears fall from my eyes onto his arm, and as gently as possible, I wipe them off again. "Please soul, I will try to help you, so will stein, but please, promise me, that you will stay strong. I can't afford to lose you, ever."

"Re-ea-lly ma-ak-aa" he whispered, "soul, your awake? I thought you were asleep?" I ask, he scared me! "Yo-u me-an yo-u thou-gh-t..." He trails off. I'm not sure what to do, his eyes flutter shut and now he has me more worried than before. I run out to get stein, one of the alarms has gone off, somethings wrong, I'm panicking.

Stein just comes in fixes the machine. "Is he okay?" I ask, petrified. "So-so. No better, no worse."

"He woke up, he was talking to me and stopped mid sentence!" I say in a frantic loud whisper. "Did you wake him?" Stein asks accusingly. "No, no I was just watching him."

"Do you want me to help you find your room again?" He asks. I nod, but before I go, I plant a kiss on soul's forehead, but he doesn't even register it.

It took me a while to leave his bedside, he just looked so... Helpless. Once we are back our in the hallway, I follow behind stein until he starts talking to me. "I know how you feel, I was once the same." He pats my shoulder, which hurts and makes me flinch. I don't answer him, I'm just to sad and to engrossed in thought to worry about what he's babbling on about if it's not about souls condition. After him explaining the story while we walk, we eventually find my room, and I think I have learnt the more caring side to stein from the stories he's told me.

I crawl into bed, completely exhausted, physically and mentally. I'm almost asleep, but I realise I can't sleep, not tonight. I know what stein is going to do, and that's all I can think of. I don't want him to be hurt, I wish he wasn't in any pain, I wish none of this ever happened. It's all my fault, he did it saving me, it's not fair, it wasn't his place.

But I guess that shows you how much a weapon, a friend, a life partner would do to protect his girl.

"We've grown together, in laugher and madness, through pain and sadness, but we all reach a point in our lives where we have to let go. I'm never going to let go."


	8. Chapter 8

**hey guys, sorry for updating so slowly, things should pick up again, for my updates and for Makas situation in the story.**

**i will be sorry for this one day**

**anyway, ON WITH IT**

I'm really scared. What if? What if I'm alone? What if souls not here anymore? I have been anxiously waiting, just waiting For stein to come back through that door, and tell me soul is okay and we can go home. But no one comes, so I will find them.

I rip the wires out of my arm, throwing them on the floor, and find the strength to bolt down the empty hallways, yelling their names. "SOUL? STEIN.? WHERE ARE YOU?" I hear my name and a feint strangled cry from the huge double doors on the left at the end of the corridor. But stein comes around the corner, "you okay?" He asks me, surprised. "Where is soul? Is he okay?" He looks at me over the top of his glasses, as if hiding something, and twists the bolt in his head.

"I don't know if this is the place or the time." He goes pale, and his eyes begin to water. No, wait. He's crying? What for? What the hell happened? "Are you okay?" I ask him, almost yelling.

"Yeh I'm fine, but I don't know how you are going to feel." He says, wiping his eyes free of the tears under his glasses. "Spit it out already Stein." I snap a him. I hate it when people do this to me, when they half tell me something but don't want to hurt my feelings so they keep the rest to themselves. To be honest, it pisses me off to no extent.

"You can't see soul. I'm sorry." He tells me. "Why? What happened? What did you do to him?"

I've never seen him cry this much, he's worse than me at the moment: an even bigger emotional wreck. "I tried to help him... He didn't make it." He manages to get out during a bout of sobs, and becomes an absolute mess. "WHAT?" I yell. "I'm sorry!" He cries sitting on the floor, back against the wall, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "WHERE IS HE!" I yell louder. My heart is racing so fast it throbs. This can't be true. No, I refuse to believe this, the mind of a crazy doctor. "Don't go in there Maka, please, don't!" He sobs again. In where? The only exit around is the double doors I was going to go through before. I disregard him, and bust into the room.

"WHAT IS THIS? WHY IS LIFE SO CRUEL?" I scream at the top of my lungs, screaming, crying, hammering the walls, all in the mean time, I can't even look at him. Stein is a monster! Soul has cuts and stitches all over him, similar to when he had that big cut across his chest, only these lines run all over his body, down his arms, across his forehead, around his neck, in swirls and lines, everywhere. Not to mention the colour of death spread across him, like he's covered in a veil of white. There are no tubes in his arms, where there would have been in life, there are no machines, nothing. Not even a heartbeat where there should be, the only thing that remains, are his soul signals. Only This can I pick up, the faintest message, the same one he's told me before.

"Maka, if you are reading this, I need to tell you, I love you, like no one else in the world. I want you to know, I will never leave you, ever, because cool guys don't do that. I want you to know, that I'll be fine, no matter what anyone tells you. Because cool guys don't just give up on life like that."

What does he mean? He has left me. He doesn't have a heartbeat.

And in a few seconds, it disappears. It's like he was talking to me, although he still lays there, lifeless, cold and still. I have to hover over him, a have to see his face for one last time. I hope he wasn't in any pain, I hope stein did the right thing, and if anything, eased him out of the world like he'd agreed to, but from what he looks like, I don't think he did.

What does he mean? He can't stay with me. But we will stay connected, even if the laws of nature reject it.

I cling to him the way someone would cling to the scent of life, with an iron grip, not letting life slide right through you fingertips, although I'm afraid, he already has.

I pull the sheets down, just revealing his tattoo. I have to see it for the last time, even though I have the key, it doesn't change that fact that there is no lock. What can a key do without a lock?

"Im sorry soul, I'm so, so, so sorry." Sobs wreck my body, as the tears rush out of my eyes, and onto his chest, making him glitter.

Dead.

The word rattles around in my head.

The world starts spinning once again, making me collapse over the edge of his bed, and the door opens once again, revealing a furious looking stein. He freezes at the door, considering what he should do next. I guess he made his choice. He walks swiftly in, and picks me up by the scruff of my neck, half carrying, half pulling me out the door, and off the bedside, kicking and screaming, yelling and swearing at him. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM YOU MONSTER!". He says nothing.

I can feel the emotions running through my veins, thick and hot. Anxiety, panic, rage, love, sadness, and longing. Somehow, it all gets mixed together, and I end up in a heap on the floor back in my room, stein standing in front of me, watching the dear life pour out of my eyes, into the pool of tears around me.

I find myself being lifted back up onto the bed, sat on the edge, and a weak voice whispering something inaudible. Shutting my eyes, I wander into oblivion. I don't want to see the world, I don't want to hear it's sounds, I don't want to be in this place., I want to be in a place where there is nothing. Nothing at all.

When I finally open my eyes again, day has risen, and I haven't moved, still sitting hunched over on the edge of the bed. Stein hasn't moved either, still sitting on the floor, head in his hands, crying.

I'm still numb with the pain of the previous days events, too numb to cry, to stiff to move, to sore to fall asleep and delve into my thoughts.

I don't want to do anything, I just want to stay here, and think about how much I resent the world. Who or what would have wanted to separate us? We, as young weapon meister pairs, are the future for shibusen, and soul and I were the top pair. Mr

Forcing myself to move, I get up, my back popping and a small groan escaping my lips at the pain it brings. Collapsing back onto the side of the bed again, I shut my eyes, blotting out the world and the pain.

Not moving for the whole day, I still lay lazily across the bed, staring at the ceiling. Stein has left. Im alone again. Somehow having him sitting here made me feel better, like I wasn't so alone, even though I was. I cant even make myself do anything besides cry, and watch the sun dip below the horizon again, painting the sky a pale orange colour, streaked with freakish lines of blue and white.

Finally, I give up. Sick of staring at the shining stars out my window. With every twinkle, it brings on a new wave of sadness, reminding me of all the nights I spent watcing them with soul, of all the times he has explained what a star means to him, of all the times he told me how much I meant to him, of all the hugs and kisses we've shared beneath them.

Shakily taking wobbly steps towards the door, I lose my breath rather quickly, and black blotches invade my sight. Another of the repetitive rounds of sobs wreck my body once again, and I can't help but sit in the doorway, and cry.

I guess it shows, how much he really means to me, and how his company became a big part of my life. But the worst pain, is not that upon your flesh, but the fact of losing someone you hold so dear to your heart.

-yup, I'm really going to be sorry for this. No hate plz.

read and review my lovelies!

-Moshi 47


End file.
